Lessons vs. Resolutions

For my dear friend, the Country Mouse in the Great White North, who can't understand our much complicated and ornamented language [he still tries, though] and who must be frozen or hybernating by now...

Truth is, we have a wonderful array of excuses for not writing down a list of New Year's resolutions. And the 12 wishes we desperately try to make, usually end up choking in our throats, along with a strange mixture of grapes and cider [unless, of course you have previously peeled the grapes and taken out the seeds, as my aunts Araiza religiously do every year — more for tradition than practicality, for that matter].

Well, I think this year we should trade the list of resolutions and wishes for a detailed list of things we have learned or want to learn. This could be a more down-to-earth approach to our hopes and dreams, and could help ease the pain and frustration of making fairytale promises or wishing for the impossible. Here is my list:

Things I've learned in 2006

1. To be forever grateful.
Expected and unexpected blessings, gifts, support and hands-on help came this year from everyone when they heard Lex & I were deep into that hectic but marvelous journey of getting married. That is probably what friends and family used to tell me years ago about "things falling in the right place, at the right time" when a big decision like this is made. It turns out they were absolutely right and most problems were solved by themselves.

2. Never spend more than 30 seconds choosing the playlist for your wedding party (or any party).
It is no use anyway. Any DJ you hire will do exactly the opposite as suggested. He will play whatever music he wants, in the order he wants, the 2 or 3 songs you totally banned from the list will be played out loud when you least imagine, and those 2 or 3 songs that had to be played you will hear while you're in the restroom, when the guests haven't arrived yet, or worse yet, when you can't find the groom [or bride] anywhere. Possible solution: Get an ipod.

3. Honeymoon never starts on the wedding day.
First thing you want to do after the craziest months of your life is GET SOME SLEEP. Once we got home from the party sometime between 4 and 5 a.m., we thought we'd do that immediately... but first I had to get rid of the thousands of hair pins that were making my head explode - and I couldn't do that alone. So Lex spent the next 50 minutes of zombiness trying to find the hair pins while I tried not to fall asleep before he did, in solidarity.

4. You get cookies as Christmas presents once you're married.
We can be sure that cookies is all we will get from now on. It turns out, everyone thinks it's easier and smarter to give cookies to a couple instead of 2 personal and well-thought gifts. No one warned me about that. [Ok, my mom gave us a DVD... and for me, enough pesos for that long postponed health check-up - yikes, I'm getting old! ; Sonia gave me a little frog photo frame and a scarf, and my Aunt Alta gave me eyeshadows].

5. To fold the box spring sheet properly.
And lots of other house-cleaning tasks... I sincerely thank my mom-in-law who taught so many practical things to my husband! I'm slow, but I'm learning.

6. Clothes don't get cleaned or put away by themselves.
I miss you Angelina!!!

7. Storage space is sacred.
Closet accesories, shelves, plastic boxes, ziplock bags, trays and drawers are my new found love. I just discovered I'm tidier than I thought. Only problem is... Lex is even more.

8. CD and DVD collections are safe now, away from my sisters.
Once I could take my old CDs and DVDs [and VHSs and Betas...] to my new home I had this great feeling of relief. There would never be missing booklets, broken cases, piles and piles of orphan CDs again!!! [most of them covered in dust or sprinkled with soda stains]. My DVDs are not mistaken for CDs anymore, and above all... the collection grew double when it merged with Lex's.

9. Neighbors can be a dream come true... or a nightmare from hell.
Living in a house almost all my life, this has been one of the most difficult lessons of the year, now that we live in a 60 apartment complex: Learn to love thy neighbours [or at least try not to kill them]. There are 2 or 3 couples we already adore and are best friends by now... but the others, well, not so much. Lex took over the administration along with another neighbor in the naive attempt to put some order to our already chaotic finances, and though we now have a professional administrator to do those disgusting tasks, we are still suffering the consecuences: Crazy old ladies [who by the way, never pay their fees] still show up knocking at our door at 7 a.m., looking for Lex, claiming [in the nastiest possible way], they have no water, they don't like the security guards, or their next door negihbor is listening to loud reaggeton music. Ahh, home sweet home!

10. Moms and sisters are suddenly nice and kind when you move out.
We actually miss each other. We miss the never-ending conversations [is that right, Nanz?], the gossip, the popcorn chick-flicks we watched over and over again, the quarrels, cat-fights [heh, heh], yells and flying pans... [Well, that I don't miss much].















Happy New Year 2007!
[And may it be full of new life lessons!].